German sportswear firm Puma expects its second-quarter results to be worse than the first as more than half of global sports retail space is currently closed, after it reported first-quarter sales declined less than analysts had feared. Puma expects all markets to recover by the end of the year and for growth to return in 2021, noting that the crisis has made many people do more sports than before and has strengthened the trend towards more casual dressing.

The brand’s first-quarter sales fell a currency-adjusted 1.3 per cent to €1.3 billion ($1.40 billion), while operating earnings dropped 50 per cent to €71.2 million compared to average analyst forecasts for 1.26 billion and 74 million respectively.

Analysts expect Puma to be more resilient in the COVID-19 crisis than its German rival Adidas , whose first-quarter sales tumbled by 19 per cent and also warned of a worse second quarter.

In the first quarter, Puma’s sales fell 12 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region but it still managed to grow 3.5 per cent in Europe, Middle East and Africa and by 3.1 per cent in the Americas as the virus lockdowns only started there in March. The brand has secured a resolving credit facility of €1900 million including 625 million from German state development bank KfW. Its business in Asia, especially China and South Korea is recovering with some stores opening again in Europe. E-commerce operations of the brand grew by around 40 per cent in the first quarter.